Picard and his team are pitted against the Romulans and the synthetics of Coppelius in a final confrontation.

Picard has been captured and continues to plead with Soji to not activate the beacon and bring on a war between synthetics and organics. At the same time, Narek returns to the crashed Borg cube to pick up some items and runs into his sister Narissa. After telling her to stay at the cube, Narek tries to prove that he hasn’t been almost completely useless this entire season and teams up with Rios and his crew to stop the beacon.

Narissa has a final showdown with Seven of Nine that, given the time and intensity, should have been a conflict given more time to develop. The resolution does leave open some interesting possibilities for the future. Jurati breaks Picard out and the two have to race against time to stand between the Romulan fleet, the Synthetics and the portal with the potential to destroy all organic life in the galaxy.

The season finale of Star Trek Picard puts all its pieces on the board and the final game is brilliantly played. From Picard’s first speech to Soji about choice to his final speeches and lessons to Soji and the other synths about what choice means, this episode is the most “Next Generation” of the entire series even up to its exciting and tension filled return of a TNG character. There are some great action scenes throughout and the special effects are beautifully rendered and incorporated into the plot. I loved all the returns of characters and Picard’s insights into the flaws of the synths.

The finale of Star Trek Picard gave me two scenes that both made me smile and tear up at the same time. The first was the end of one character and the ultimate end of another. The finale was satisfying across the board and featured a twist that was completely unexpected. It was handled in a convenient, Star Trek style way, but that made it all the more satisfying to see.